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James is a character and the secondary antagonist in the winter segment of The Last of Us. He is David's partner and the implied second-in-command of a cannibalistic group of survivors. He is voiced and mo-capped by Reuben Langdon.
Biography
Events of The Last of Us
James and David met Ellie when they ran into each other while hunting in the winter of 2033. When Ellie readied her bow, David offered her some supplies to trade for the deer meat she obtained to defuse the situation. She asked them if they have any antibiotics, which they did. David orders James to go and retrieve the medication, despite his concerns.
When he eventually returned with the medicine, he found Ellie holding David at gunpoint, and having overheard the conversation between the two, leveled his pistol at Ellie but was told to lower it by David. He reluctantly did so, even after finding out what Ellie and Joel did to his group at the university. James then angrily tossed over the medicine and moved out of Ellie's way so she could leave. He would then tell the group of Ellie's involvement in their friends' deaths.
When David sent men to track and catch Ellie, they decided to try and kill her instead because of what James told them, however, David personally captures Ellie himself. Ellie wakes to find herself locked in a cage — she witnesses James chopping the limbs off a human body. Upon seeing her cowering in fear, James goes to notify David. Now realizing that David's group are cannibals, Ellie refuses to cooperate.
After a brief altercation, David reiterates her own words, saying "[...] chop into tiny pieces." The following morning, James and David threw Ellie onto a table, ready to kill and harvest her, James pinning her down so David could chop her head with a meal clever. Before being killed, Ellie declared that she was infected and states that David is infected too, having bit him before she was thrown onto the table. David at first was skeptical, but Ellie insisted that he should roll up her right sleeve to show him her bite wound. Upon finding out from Ellie that she is infected, James became frightened and disgusted, but David claimed it must not be real because she would have turned sooner. Panicking and repulsed, James became distracted and weakened his grip on Ellie's left hand as David began to observe his bite from Ellie. Taking advantage of their distraction, Ellie grabbed the butcher knife, and thrust it into James' neck, killing him.
Later, when confronting Ellie at the restaurant, David told Ellie that he wished she hadn't killed James, mentioning that James was just trying to do what he was told.
Relationships
David
James is implied to be David's right-hand man and is a cannibal like David and his group. David personally views the man as his friend. Unlike David, James is not seemingly as kind-hearted and does not always agree with his decisions. Knowing that a group of David's men were killed in the University by a man and a little girl , he overhears David's conversation with Ellie about the incident and is reluctant to let Ellie leave, but complies none the less; one of the few cannibals to do so. It also appears that he knows David is putting on a facade towards Ellie by how the man is so calm and letting her go.
When James notices Ellie waking up, he informs David straight away. James appears to work for David at times, butchering a human corpse for him and the group. He also assists him in their attempt to butcher Ellie, demonstrating David's reliance on him. He even went out hunting with David, displaying a gesture of protection when Ellie threatened him.
When James is killed by Ellie, David indicates sadness for his death, saying that James was just trying to do his job, and Ellie shouldn't have killed him.
Ellie
James and Ellie had an extremely hostile relationship with each other, both having a strong desire to kill the other. James was eager to shoot Ellie once he discovered she was part of the reason he lost so many of his friends at the University of Eastern Colorado. His anger was only withheld by his loyalty to David. This protection of David also serves to display how Ellie didn't have any control again against the pair. Later on, he appeared to be afraid of Ellie when she announced she was infected.
Although Ellie was a child, he didn't mind physically abusing her with David and willingly held her down so David could butcher her. However, this led to Ellie hacking his neck with a cleaver, killing him.
Gallery
